Oxygen bars have been around in North America since the mid-1990s, offering an alternative to alcohol or juice bars for trendy club goers and health-conscious revelers. If you think an oxygen bar features people sitting around with huge tanks of air like the ones ambulances carry, you’re in for a surprise. There’s more to it than just inhaling (think Baskin Robbins meets a necessity of living). But is it as good as they say? Is it safe?

Bar owners claim that there are numerous medical and emotional benefits to visiting an oxygen bar. In fact, some benefits sound almost miraculous. O2SpaBar in Toronto, which claims to be the first oxygen bar in the world, lists many benefits on their website, including:

Lastly, as miraculous as it sounds, oxygen treatments claim to boost results from radiation therapy for cancer.OxygenPartyBar.com stresses the importance of oxygen intake by stating that 90% of our energy comes from oxygen, while only 10% comes from food and water. The site goes on to list a number of other alleged health benefits of oxygen bar treatments, including:

Heightens concentration, alertness and memory

Calms mind and stabilizes nervous system

Relieves temporary altitude discomfort

Has an anti-aging effect

Strengthens the heart and reduces the risk of heart attack

Offers drug-free approach to weight loss (certain scents, such as apple and spearmint, have been proven effective as a diet aid)

Women's Health Watch: Oxygen bars not only give your lungs a much-needed breath of fresh air, they also reduce nicotine cravings. Having trouble quitting? Consider visiting an oxygen bar, plus check out this article to learn more reasons to quit smoking.

Oxygen bar patrons don’t just walk in and say, “I’d like a shot of O2, please.” Every customer is issued a plastic nasal cannula, one of those oxygen lines that might be inserted in your nose during a hospital stay. Customers keep their cannulas for return visits, to reduce transmitting germs, infections and the “ick” factor of using something that was in someone else’s nose. Oxygen is passed from the tank through water to make it more palatable before it goes through the cannula and into the customer’s nose.

Think you’re just getting plain old oxygen for your money? At an oxygen bar, you get flavored air! Visitors choose from a variety of flavors, which are added to the water. Many bars offer several fruit flavors, while spas offer special combinations. Ancient Aromatics Sea Spa and Oxygen Bar in Ventura, CAoffers combinations like Relaxation (lavender, chamomile and ylang ylang) and Diet Delight (grapefruit, juniper berry, cypress, and fennel). There’s even an Einstein’s Secret combination of rosemary, rose geranium, lavender, and ylang ylang that’s purported to affect one’s IQ. Prices for oxygen vary by bar, but the average cost is about a dollar a minute.

Smaller oxygen bars are available for beauty salons, massage therapists and other businesses who want to offer their clients something different. For those who want to bring the experience home, there are oxygen bars available for domestic use. Amazon.com offers one complete with spa CDs and an aromatherapy blend for $639.

People who aren’t ready to drop that kind of money can rent oxygen bars for special events, like office parties and wedding receptions. Zo2ne carries a lounge chair that’s equipped with an oxygen dispenser. Before spending hundreds of dollars on an oxygen bar for the home or office, it would be a good idea to visit several bars and ask lots of questions.

If you think all of these claims are too good to be true, there are numerous organizations that agree with you. According to the American Lung Association’s website, “Oxygen is being dispensed for recreational purposes at oxygen bars to patrons who believe that inhaling the pure oxygen will cause their bodies to function even better than normal. Inhaling oxygen recreationally is unlikely to have a beneficial physiological effect.” In fact, the association goes on to say that oxygen at high levels can be toxic, but there is no evidence that the low-flow levels used in oxygen bars are dangerous to a person’s health.

The Food and Drug Administration worries about the products used to flavor the oxygen. Some bars use food-grade particles that are oil free, but some could use aroma oils.

Experts say that inhaling those oils can lead to serious inflammation of the lungs, known as lipoid pneumonia.

Maintaining an oxygen bar’s equipment is equally important. Some of the equipment uses clay filters, which can grow microorganisms that can cause infection if not cleaned properly. In addition, it’s almost impossible to guarantee the sterility of the aerosol that is generated by the process. Oxygen tanks can cause trouble if they are stored on their sides or in an area that is not properly ventilated. In addition, the tanks must not be used in an area where smoking is allowed. "Smoking anywhere near oxygen, even in the same room, can be extremely dangerous," says consumer safety officer Duane Sylvia in a 2002 FDA Consumer Magazine article.

Another problem is that by offering bottled oxygen, a bar is technically dispensing a prescription drug. "It doesn't matter what they label it," says consumer safety officer Melvin Szymanski in the FDA article. "At the other end of the hose is oxygen, and the individual that provides you with the nasal cannula and turns on the canister for your 20-minute supply is actually dispensing the prescription drug oxygen to you." The agency allows individual state boards of licensing to choose to enforce the law or not. Some states choose to allow oxygen bars while they are prohibited in other states.

Critics complain that paying for something that has been free for billions of years is ridiculous, but 20 years ago, the idea of selling bottled water was equally laughable. Unless a patron has a serious health condition like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) or asthma, a visit to a reputable oxygen bar will probably do no harm. Obviously, someone with a congested nose might want to wait a few days until things clear up. In fact, since people will most likely breathe deeper than normal, their stress levels will drop. The benefits of lower stress levels are well documented. Whether the health benefits of oxygen bars are legitimate or not, there’s one thing on which everyone can agree: You don’t need a designated driver after a night out at this bar.

What's Your Acupuncture IQ?Complementary and alternative medicine is never intended as a replacement for traditional medicine, but it can offer some significant benefits. So just how much do you know about this growing popular trend? Test your needle know-how with this acupuncture quiz.